With the advent of computers, society expected to gain mastery over its information. Hope abounded that we could see a paperless office, and that we could readily find any information that existed in nearly unlimited forms of delivery.
However, we have learned that people still enjoy reading on printed paper. We also have learned that because we read and handle so much information, we frequently remember reading something important to us, but cannot remember where we read it. We then become frustrated in our desire to quickly access the particular source or document where we remember seeing the topic of interest. If an electronic copy of the document or source exists, then we can perform an electronic keyword search with a computer to reveal the desired document and/or passage of text. However, an electronic copy of the document may not be available to facilitate electronic keyword searching and a computer is not always available to assist in that process.
Accordingly, in some respects, the information age appears to have made access to information less convenient, rather than more convenient.